


Petals

by ausfil



Category: Westlife
Genre: AU, Angst, Babies, Beaches, Biphobia, Birds, Bisexual Male Character, Boys Kissing, Break Up, Cheating, Crush at First Sight, Crushes, Crying, Family, Family Issues, First Meetings, Florists, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Loneliness, M/M, Mark is an adorable helpless little thing, Moving On, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 12:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10697178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ausfil/pseuds/ausfil
Summary: Mark was probably the loneliest, most boring man out there – no friends, no love life, no hobbies, nothing. He was thirty-six years old and had nothing to look forward to. All of his time was spent either working at his flower shop or lying down on his bed.This was destined to change when the cutest man walked into his shop.





	Petals

Mark leaned over the counter, chin in his hand, and let out a sigh. The fresh smell of flowers surrounding him didn’t do much to make him feel better. They never did. All they did was remind him that he had no one – no one to gift him with flowers, no one he could gift with flowers. All he had was this small shop. It was his world. He guessed it was nice, but he couldn’t help feeling sad the every odd minute. Loneliness was also his world. It knew him by name.

The same bell dinged as it does every other day when the door opened and Mark sat up, ready to greet with the same smile when a man walked in. “Welco–“

This was the first time in forever that Mark was forced to stop speaking for a second. The feeling of overwhelming heat flowing over his chest forced him to. He thought that this sort of thing was just a movie miracle, only to happen on the big screens. He never knew that this could happen in real life; and not in _his_ boring life in any way.

His eyes were fixated on the man’s brilliant brown hair – smooth but by the looks of it, the ends a bit crunchy in the most endearing way. Then he trailed down to those heavenly hazel pair of eyes and lost himself a bit. They shined like the ever so warm sunlight on a luminous day. They danced and creased above the kindest, most confident smile which Mark was mesmerised by.

He cleared his throat and tried to screw his head on right, only hoping that his cheeks didn’t go pink. “Welcome. How can I help you?”

“Hi.” The man beamed. It was definitely the prettiest smile Mark had ever seen before. He was sure that he was blushing now. “I’m buying flowers for my boyfriend but I don’t really know anything about flowers.” He scratched the back of his head with an adorable little scrunch of his nose. “Do you have any suggestions? Like, something with a good meaning or… I don’t know. Anything.”

Mark tried not to let his face droop when he heard the words ‘for my boyfriend’. He was a professional. He could do this. He didn’t know the man, anyway. “Well, there are the common red roses. Symbolises love. Or you can go for the tulips – they’re romantic too. You could say that they’re both kind of cliché, though.”

“Yeah. Got anything less cliché then?”

“Less cliché, ehm...” Mark looked around the shop and pointed when he found what he wanted. “How about daisies? They mean loyalty and love. I can mix up the colours to make it pretty.”

“Okay, sounds great. I’ll take that. Thanks.”

Mark nodded, reached for the clippers. “Take a seat.” He pointed at the chair in front of the counter. “Or you can come back later and pick it up if you like.”

“It’s alright. I’ll just wait here. Keep you company.” He had a warm grin and a cute crinkle of his nose with a wink.

Mark was internally screaming.

He was glad that the man decided to stay. It was a chance to talk properly, even though he had a boyfriend. Mark just wanted to talk to someone, and this guy was someone who he actually wanted to get to know for the first time in a very long time. He had to hide his stupid smile when he returned to the counter, laying out the flower choices on the countertop. “Do you like these?”

“Yeah, it looks lovely. Thanks.” He gave off that warm grin again. Mark smiled back and fiddled with the flower stems, trying to not show the tingles that he felt. “Feehily’s Petals. Mark Feehily.”

“Hm?” Mark looked up, a bit startled but warmed to hear that sweet voice say his name. Urgh, he felt like a bloody schoolgirl.

“Nothing. Just reading this.” Shane waved the business card.

“Oh, right. Take it and you can order on the phone next time.”

“Awesome, thanks. I’ll remember that.” He slid the card in his pocket. “I’m Shane, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mark.”

“I know.” Shane chuckled and tapped his pocket. Oh. Well, that was stupid. Mark looked back down in embarrassment and put the arrangement together.

“Oh, right, the… the card. Yeah.”

“Yep.” Shane chuckled again. God, that was a beautiful sound. “Sorry. I’m probably distracting you. I’ll shut up and let you do your thing.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I appreciate company.” It was true. Especially if that company was this adorable man. “So, is this for a special occasion or are you just being a good boyfriend?” Mark looked up from underneath his eyelashes.

“I’m the best boyfriend.” There was that cute laugh again. Fuck. “Nah, it’s a special occasion. It’s our one year anniversary today.”

“Wow, one year. That’s great. Congratulations.” He couldn’t help feeling jealous a little at the way the Shane’s eyes lit up. How long it had been since someone was that excited for him, Mark couldn’t even remember. “Would you like to write a card too then?”

“Oh, that’d be great.”

“Yeah, absolutely. Just over there, you can pick from any of those. It’s free if you buy flowers with it.” Mark pointed to a stand at the side of the store and almost finished the arrangement, tying a ribbon around the wrapping for the final touch.

“Wow, that looks amazing. Thank you so much.” Shane returned to his chair and laid out the card on the countertop – a clean white card with the simple decoration of a couple of pink hearts in the corners.

“You’re welcome.” Mark peeked at the card, followed Shane’s smooth and non-hesitant path of the pen. Jealousy swirled his heart when he could read the simple but sure words to this lucky _“Nico”_ of romance, of admiration, of gratitude and promises for more years of love.

When Shane put the pen down, Mark quickly finished up with the bouquet and handed it over. Shane received with a grateful smile and a gleaming look in those sweet eyes. “This is beautiful. Thanks for your help.” Mark received the money Shane put forth and handed him the change. Their hands touched slightly. It was enough to make Mark’s breath hitch.

“You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

“Yep, you too. Seeya.” Shane waved and turned around, walking out with excited footsteps that couldn’t be any lighter.

“Bye.” Mark whispered to himself when the door closed and felt a bittersweet smile springing onto his lips.

***

“I’m sorry, Shane.”

Shane’s hands were rolled into fists as he tried to settle the lump in his throat. His gaze was focused on the bouquet of the beautiful arrangement in Nicky’s hands, which Nicky had accepted with the most awkward and guilty smile. Shane had asked if he was alright, if something was wrong. He really wished he hadn’t asked that question.

“But… why?” Shane could hear his own voice tremble, hating the tears that had settled in the corners of his eyes, waiting for the moment to fall down.

“I…” Nicky scrubbed his face with the hand that wasn’t holding the flowers and let out a deep sigh. “I just can’t do it anymore. I’m… with someone.”

Shane knitted his eyebrows, his chest tightening. “You… you cheated? You were dating someone else behind my back?”

“No, I was...” Nicky puffed out another sigh. “I was dating _you_ behind someone else’s back. I’m so sorry.” Shane’s fists trembled. “I’m a horrible person. I know that I probably should’ve told you but–“

“ _Probably_ should’ve told me? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Okay, I should’ve told you right away but... I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“You had an entire year, Nicky. I can’t believe this. We went out for a _year_. You told me you loved me. Did that mean nothing to you?”

Nicky lowered his head in shame. “I screwed up... I really loved you – that wasn’t a lie, Shane. I promise, but I can’t carry on with this anymore. The guilt’s eating me alive and I just can’t… do this. I… I’m engaged, Shane.” Shane’s face fell, so did his tears, and so did his heart. “He proposed to me two days ago. I have a fiancé now… and we’ve been dating for almost seven years. I have to end this between us.” Nicky looked like he was seconds away from bawling. Shane was already bawling by the end of that confession. He wanted to give the shaking blonde man a hug, but also a punch at the same time. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, just…” The thick streaks of tears marked Shane’s cheeks as he took a couple steps back. “Whatever. Bye, Nicky.” He turned around and stormed away, ignoring Nicky’s desperate voice calling from behind him and people’s careful glances. His feet knew exactly where they were heading.

***

Shane had more drinks than he had ever had at a bar before he stumbled home. Somehow. He had ended up on his couch, had cried for a good couple of hours and swinged through misery, grief, anger – drowning in the luminous memories of the past year that he had had. With the amount of alcohol in him, he wanted to call Nicky and yell at him – tell him to go fuck himself but also that he loved him, and that he still did. By this point, Shane just felt like he was ripped in pieces, chest hurting and stomach churning. He was furious. He was morose. He just wanted to hear Nicky’s voice one last time.

He reached into his pocket to grab his phone, but what came out wasn’t the phone. It was a small rectangle card with numbers that were blurry – everything was pretty blurry for him – but the numbers were just clear enough so that he could still decipher it. It wasn’t Nicky, but he dialled the number anyway.

“Hello?” The man picked up almost instantly.

“Feehily’s Petals?”

***

Mark flicked through the TV channels. Felt a yawn creeping up on him. He thought about just heading to bed, but realised it was only 9 PM when he turned to his phone for some other sort of superficial entertainment just to pass time. The screen froze for a split second until it changed to a random number calling him. He picked it up without much thought.

“Hello?”

“Feehily’s Petals?”

“Oh, yes.” He turned the TV off and sat up. “How can I help you?”

“This is Shane Filan. Do you remember me?”

Mark almost stopped breathing. “O-oh, yeah. From this morning? Wi-with the daisies, right?” He tried to sound casual, tried to pretend that he didn’t spend the entire day thinking about the man who was practically a stranger.

“Yup. That’s me.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Mark nervously cleared his throat. “So, ehm, how did it go? Did your boyfriend like the flowers?”

There was an uncomfortable pause where Mark could only hear a shuddering breath being forced out. He winced. “Well, he took it, but we… we broke up. Turns out he’s a bloody cheater, and engaged now. He dumped me today.”

“Oh my god… I’m so sorry.” Mark could swear that he heard a sob and a sniffle – restrained cries and breaths. He felt his heart ache for him.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for me too. I was so blind… I should have seen the fucking signs. Fuckin’ hell…” Shane slurred with a tearful voice. Mark bit down on his lip, wishing he could go over there and give him a hug or something. It was pretty obvious how many drinks Shane had in him. Either that or he was awfully sleepy. Or both. Probably both. “Tell me, what’s a flower that means betrayal?”

“Um, well, uh…” Mark tried to search his store in his head. “I don’t know. I can’t think of one right now. Are you okay?”

“No. Not at all.”

Mark heard another shuddering breath, then another tearful whimper. He sat up a bit. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Just… don’t hang up. Stay here… on the line.” Shane murmured, just coherent enough for Mark to understand.

“Oh. Um. Okay, yeah. I can do that.” He sagged back onto the bed. There was a small grunt on the other side, then a long slow exhale. A few more tearful sniffs and sobs that slowly died down, then a much calmer inhale, followed by a sleepy mumble. “Shane?”

There was no reply, only slow and calm breaths with the occasional soft snore.

“Hello? Shane?” He called again but it was still silent. Mark felt himself smile at the cute little drunken mumbles. He stayed on the line for longer than he would have liked to admit, just listening to Shane sleep.

***

Two months had passed since Shane was in contact, since that drunken phone call when he fell asleep adorably, but it was also heartbreaking to hear the crying. Mark would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t think about it a lot. About that clumsy sleepy drunk voice that fell asleep on him two months ago, wishing in that moment to be beside him, to hug him and to stroke the smooth streaks of brown hair as he was deep in his peaceful dreams.

For two whole months, he pictured that image in his head before he realised how sad it all was – lying down on his bed beside no one, fantasising about a man who drunk-called him and cried about his ex-boyfriend to, fantasising about a man whom he had only ever seen once and barely knew. It was pathetic, and possibly the saddest thing he’d done recently – which was saying a lot.

But he couldn’t stop himself. He would paint Shane’s warm smile on the ceiling with his eyes at night. He would go to work and wish that Shane would pop in and ask to buy some more flowers.

While watering the growing plants at the shop, Mark would think about maybe giving Shane a call but that thought shot itself down real quick when he went back home after work; when he walked into his cold room and could clearly see how boring his life was. Shane probably wouldn’t want to be a part of it. Shane was gorgeous, probably popular too, and the way Mark saw himself was _far_ from that. He didn’t think that Shane could possibly be attracted to him.

***

The bell rang and Mark put down his clippers to head back to the front counter. “Welco… Oh. Um. Hi.“

“Hey.” Shane. It was Shane. Fuck. He looked as great as Mark remembered from two months ago, but a bit thinner. A bit like he had the worst two months and was worn out – had just enough energy to sport that pretty smile on those pretty lips.

“Hi. Welcome back.” Mark showed a friendly grin, could feel his heart right about ready to burst out of him. Just seeing the gorgeous smile again in front of him was enough to make him blush a bit. “Looking for flowers, or?”

“Yeah. Me mam’s birthday today. I’m going over for dinner tonight.” Shane put his hands in his pockets and looked around the store. “But I don’t really know what she likes.”

“Do you want me to just put something nice together for you then?”

“That’d be grand, yeah. Thanks.” Shane displayed a smile that was a bit weak in the corners. He plumped himself down on the chair in front of the counter while Mark gathered different flowers. “Hey, so uh…” he began when Mark came back to the counter to arrange the bouquet, “this is awkward, and embarrassing, but I’m sorry about last time when I got drunk and called you. I don’t… I don’t remember a lot of it. All I remember was calling you and some crying I think.. My bad. I was going to text you back and apologise but I felt embarrassed and, well, I was a complete emotional mess for two months so… yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. I can understand it.” Mark looked up. “How’re you doing? You sound better.”

“Yeah, I’m doing much better. Thanks. Moved past the breakup a bit, I think. At least I got out of bed this morning. Big step.” Shane let out a broken chuckle that made Mark almost want to wince. “Anyways, I just wanted to apologise. I don’t usually do stuff like that when I’m drunk but I was _really_ drunk that night. I was barely myself since then up until now.”

“It’s all good, seriously. We’ve all had shitty breakups once. And you came back here despite that, so you’re already winning this breakup.” Mark encouraged with a shy smile – an even wider one when Shane gratefully smiled back at him.

“And, I mean, you’re one hell of a florist. Couldn’t think of anywhere else to go but _Feehily’s Petals_ , you know?” Shane delivered a cheeky wink. Mark had to make sure that his feet weren’t floating off the ground.

“Aw, thanks.” Mark lowered his gaze again to focus on the flowers but his mind raced to think of something to say, to fill the silence that came. “So, these are for your mam?”

“Yeah, it’s her birthday. She’s probably gonna nag me for not bringing anyone to dinner. Gonna try to teach me a lesson.”

“She doesn’t know about the breakup?”

“Nah. She doesn’t even know that I used to date Nicky.”

“Didn’t tell her?”

Shane shook his head. “It’s kind of a long story… but um, basically, my parents neglected me for a while when I came out to them as bisexual and we didn’t keep in touch at all. Traditional Catholic family; in a bad way. Only recently, we patched things up a bit. I mean, it’s still a shitty relationship, but a lot better than before.”

Mark nodded along.

“So I was planning to surprise them and bring Nicky to her birthday dinner, see how she and dad would react but… yeah. Didn’t work out that way, did it?” A small pained twitch travelled over Shane’s lips. “Funny how things turn out. She’s probably going to want to lecture me on how I’m alone because of this _sinful and unnatural lifestyle that I chose to lead_. Urgh. So that’ll be fun.”

“I know how you feel. Those people are just…” Mark shook his head and let out a shallow sigh. “I’ve had my fair share of that sort of thing when I came out too. I’m sorry you have to go through that. It sucks. And it sucks that other people don’t really understand.”

“It really does.” Shane grimaced. “I’m alright though. I just wanted to kind of rub it in their faces. I probably sound like an asshole but I really did. I wanted to show them that I’m not closeted anymore, living a proud bi life and dating and still happy; doing everything that I need to do. That I was doing so fucking great despite them shunning me out of their lives for twelve years.” Shane’s eyes sharpened before he scoffed to himself.

“Wait, what? _Twelve_ years?”

“Mhm, twelve years. Crazy, right? I came out to them when I was twenty-five and I mean, I kept in touch with my brothers and sisters, but I haven’t seen either of my parents since then until recently. I’m thirty seven now, so yeah, it’s been twelve years, like.”

“Wow… wow. That’s incredible.” Mark couldn’t fathom that. The idea of not having his family around for that long was just insane. His heart went out to the guy. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. With the way they reacted, I was glad that they didn’t try to get in touch with me. I certainly didn’t try either. That’s why I wanted to show them tonight. Turns out I don’t really have anything to rub in their faces anymore.”

“Well, if you really wanted to, I guess you could find someone to pretend to be your boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever.”

“What, like, hire an escort or something?”

“I don’t know. Something like that, yeah. Or ask a friend.” Mark shrugged and turned his gaze back to the arrangement. “Or I could do it if you want.”

“Really?”

Mark looked up, just realised what he had said. It wasn’t like him at all. He wasn’t one to do things like this. He couldn’t do this. Shit. “Oh, um I–“

“Because if you could, that would be amazing. I would owe you a big one.” Shane’s eyes lit up, sparkling and so full of hope. How could he say no to that?

“Well. Eh. I mean… yeah, I guess so. I’m not doing anything tonight anyways so I could make it.”

“Oh my god, thank you so much.”

“That’s okay, yeah, it’s…” Yeah. It was fine. It was going to be okay. Hopefully. He could do this. “It’s fine. I finish up at 5:30 PM. Is that alright?”

“That’s perfect. You’re a lifesaver, you know that?” Shane gave a light punch to Mark’s forearm and he giggled like a fucking toddler who was playfully poked on the nose. “I’ll come and pick you up at around then. We can figure out a story on our way there.” Mark nodded, tying a ribbon around the arrangement and handing it over before receiving Shane’s pay. “I really appreciate it, Mark. Thanks a lot.”

“No problem. Should I stop by my house and get dressed up?”

“Nah, it’s fine. You look good in what you’re wearing now. Just lose the apron and you’re good to go.” Shane stood up. “I’ll come by at 5:30 then?”

“Yep, I’ll see you then.”

“Right. Bye.” Shane said with those gorgeous curved lips and walked out.

Mark felt crazy. Smitten and stupid and pathetic, all at the same time.

What had he gotten himself into?

***

Mark tapped his feet along to the music from Shane’s phone in the car, somehow trying to calm his nerves to this Backstreet Boys ballad. This was fucking crazy. Probably a horrible idea. He didn’t know what this was – more of an acting job, a crazy favour, a chance to spend some more time with Shane outside of work.

“So do they know that I’m coming?”

“Yeah, I said I’m bringing someone but they don’t know that it’s a guy. They’re probably just hoping and praying that it’s a girl.” Shane snorted. “Listen, I apologise in advance if they’re a bit mean to you or something. I don’t really know them that well myself. The last time I saw them, I was only twenty five, so I’ve no clue how they’ll react.”

Shane looked nervous. Scared, actually, way more than him. Mark wanted to give him a tight hug and rub his back. “It’s alright. I can handle it.”

“Thanks.” Shane was chewing on his lip.

“So what’s our story?”

“Well, we met at your flower shop. You flirted, I flirted. Blah blah blah. Been dating for about… five months, maybe?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Mark saw Shane nod, then going back to digging his teeth into his lips.

***

“Shane! You made it.” Shane nodded and leaned into her hug. Mark felt uncomfortable watching that. The hug was really rigid, distant. It was the same sort of touch when Shane gave his dad a hug. It wasn’t like a parent-son hug, but more like two enemies trying to be civil in a public place. “Who’s this?” She asked when they looked up towards Mark. A flash of hostility sparked off both pairs of eyes. Mark suddenly felt the urge to turn around and go home.

“This is Mark. He’s my boyfriend.”

“Oh. Okay.” She nodded as her shoulders sagged a bit, like she had been hoping that her son would just introduce him as a ‘friend’, like hearing the actual word _boyfriend_ was the last thing she wanted to hear from Shane’s mouth. But she forced a smile. Again, it just felt like she was trying to be civil. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Mark.”

“You too, Mrs Filan.” Mark handed her the flowers and saw the smile widen and relax a bit. She thanked him and invited the two boys in, leading them to the dinner table.

Shane and Mark sat beside each other and Shane looked real edgy. If he could, Mark would’ve offered to go outside for a bit and give him a hug, because it looked like he could really use one. For now, all he could do was put a supportive hand on Shane’s knee and get a nervous little smile his way.

He had a feeling dinner wasn’t going to be too fun.

***

Mark had seen Shane roll his hand into a fist under the table multiple times, and he had reached out to stroke it easy. Then Shane would give a small grateful smile and relax a bit until his parents said something offensive, _again_ – subtly but not so subtly displaying their opinions on the whole “gay situation” of their son.

“I need to use the bathroom.” Shane shot up from his seat, eventually. Needed to cool down a bit.

“The first door to your left down the corridor.” His dad pointed then got up too to head to the kitchen.

Mark watched Shane turn a corner and disappear, then turned down to his food, picking at it with his fork. Heard Shane’s mum clear her throat in the unpleasant silence. He lifted his head up and smiled at her. “Um, thank you for having us over. Dinner was lovely.”

“No, thanks for coming. It was nice to meet you, and to see Shane again.” She at least had the decency to smile back for a short while before those corners of her lips flipped back down. “I’m sure you’ve heard from Shane about what happened between us.”

“Oh um, yeah. It came up.” Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

She nodded, understanding. “I’m sorry if things are a bit tense. I’m sure this wasn’t what you were expecting to be met with.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine, really. I’m just happy to be here with Shane.” That last part wasn’t a lie. Mark smiled generously, seeing the lopsided smile on her face.

“Well, I’m glad that Shane’s happy. I know we’ve been missing from Shane’s life for a long time, but we’re really making an effort.”

Mark nodded. “I’m sure he appreciates it.”

She nodded too, deep in thoughts. “I hope so. We’re glad he came back. It’s just… still hard for us to accept this whole…” She roughly gestured at Mark. Mark felt a small fire within him along with the urge to grab Shane and storm out. “This whole _gay_ … thing. You know?”

Mark bit the insides of his mouth as he nodded. “Well, he’s bisexual. Not gay.”

“He’s basically just gay – let’s admit it. It’s the same thing.”

Mark couldn’t hold back scrunching his face up a bit this time. “No, actually, they’re two different–“ Mark silenced himself when he heard the bathroom door open. It was going to be his turn to clench his fists underneath the table.

***

The car ride back was potentially the best part of all this. They could relax. It was only them two. They didn’t have to put on fake smiles and force themselves to tolerate the slagging undertones throughout the entire conversation.

“Thanks for doing that, Mark. I really appreciate it. You were great today.”

“No, it’s okay. I had fun.”

“Really? Fun? That was _fun_? It was a fucking disaster.” Mark noticed Shane’s grip tighten on the wheel as his tone got rougher with every word.

“Well, it...” Mark chewed on his lip. He didn’t have anything to say. The only reason coming here was worth it was to stay beside Shane through it all – which he thought was also a bit ridiculous, this only being the second time meeting him, regardless of how Mark felt about him. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”

Shane sighed, his shoulders relaxed and his grip on the wheel loosened. “Don’t be sorry, this is all my fault, I’m just…” He snorted to himself, shook his head. “I don’t know why I thought they would be supportive this time. That was stupid of me. And to have dragged _you_ into it… I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. I guess I just wasn’t thinking right.”

“No, you don’t need to worry about me. I just want you to be okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a disappointment, that’s all. After twelve years, that was my first proper… I don’t know, _thing_ – let’s say – with them, and to have it turn out like that… I’m just sad about it, I guess. It was my chance to kind of patch things up a bit and have a decent relationship with them but,” Shane shrugged, “I guess it’s just not meant to be.”

Mark nodded along. “I wish I knew how to cheer you up.”

“Please, you’ve done enough today. I probably wouldn’t have gotten through that dinner if you weren’t there.” Shane smiled for the first time since getting into the car, or rather, since the awful dinner. “Sorry today was so… messed up. I wasn’t my best today. Nervous. Pretty edgy. I was just angry.”

“It’s ok – I understand. I still don’t regret coming.”

“You’re too nice, Mark.” Shane placed his hand on Mark’s thigh and gave a gentle pat. “I promise I’m not this miserable at all when I’m not near my family.” Mark nodded. He could see that. It was almost impossible to erase the sunny bubbly side of Shane that he had seen and loved when they first met. “I feel like I owe you a proper good time where I’m away from all of this.”

Mark just smiled. He didn’t have the balls to say he would love to, or that yes, he would be more than willing to have a proper good time. He thought that it would probably make things too obvious, was so sure that Shane was just saying it out of guilt and generosity.

“Well, my mate’s going surfing at the beach this weekend with his kids and a couple other friends. Do you wanna come along?”

“Really?”

Mark probably sounded too surprised. He didn’t expect a follow-up. Well. This was… nice. _So_ nice.

But the beach? It wasn’t particularly Mark’s favourite place in the whole world. Not having a shirt on in front of heaps of people kind of terrified him.  
Although, a day with Shane was the one thing that he didn’t want to say ‘no’ to. He figured he could always just not take his shirt off and not go into the water. He could sit on the sand and watch Shane do things. Anything at all. That itself was an appealing thought.

“I mean, if your friends wouldn’t mind. I don’t want to get in the way of your surfing. I don’t really know how to surf.”

“That’s fine. I don’t surf as well. Most of the time I just watch them and take care of my friend’s kids. It’d be nice to have company other than a two year old.” Shane chuckled. A little part of Mark melted every time he heard that sound.

“Okay, yeah. I can be there, then. It sounds like fun.” Mark said as they pulled over in front of his house. “Thanks for the ride.”

“It’s the least I can do after what you did for me today. Seriously, thank you.”

“You’ve said that about a million times today.” They both let out chuckles and Mark undid his seatbelt. “It’s fine. I’m just glad I could help you out somehow.”

“Cheers.” Shane tapped Mark’s thigh, and Mark almost flinched. “I’ll see you this weekend then.”

“Yeah, looking forward to it. Seeya.” Mark reluctantly pushed open the door and got out, waving to Shane from the other side of the window, beaming when he waved back before driving off.

Mark stood there for a bit and watched the car get further away with butterflies in his stomach, a stupid smile on his lips.

***

Mark must have looked at the mirror about a million times before he worked up the courage to head to the beach. He wasn’t so sure about this sky blue shirt. It didn’t exactly scream ‘Mark’. He hadn’t worn anything that was a single shade lighter than dark grey in years. He felt like a fluffy marshmallow, but it was either this or his boring black clothes. It would probably be better to wear brighter clothes to the beach, and to impress Shane. He topped this with a simple white baseball cap and his favourite pair of sunglasses before another million analytical looks until he could walk outside.

When he got to the beach, he could already see Shane, laughing and standing out from the group of friends surrounding him. The man didn’t need a bright spotlight on him to stand out. Mark took a deep breath, fixed his hat and walked. His heart was pounding against his bones as he reached the group and tapped Shane’s shoulder.

Shane turned around with that perpetually shining smile underneath kind eyes. “Hey! You made it. Great to see ya.” Shane opened up his arms for a hug and pulled Mark in, which Mark received with an awkward, nervous pat on the back. “Lads,” Shane turned back around, “this is Mark. Mark, this is Paul, Michael, and Kian. And Kian’s son, Koa.”

Mark exchanged friendly “nice to meet you”s with them all, gave the child a warm grin, until Shane crouched down and held hands with the cutest baby who was kicking sand around.

“And this little fella here! This is Zekey. Kian’s second son.” Mark crouched down next to him and waved.

“Hiya.” Mark chuckled when he got a cute little innocent wave in return.

“Well, we’re gonna go surfin’.” Kian spoke up, his surfboard in his arms along with his friends. “You surf, Mark?”

“Oh, nah. I don’t know how to. I just came to relax.”

“Okay,” Kian looked at Mark, then Shane, then gave off a cheeky smirk. Mark saw Shane shake his head through the corner of his eyes. “Fair enough. We’ll catch you later then.”

Mark nodded as the three friends headed to the water with the eldest son, then turned to Shane who laid down a beach towel onto the warm sand.

“Here, sit.” Mark did, folded his legs up a bit and took off his sunglasses. “Do you want a soda? We have coke or sprite.”

“Coke, please.” Shane got one for himself too and brought along a bag of chips in one hand, Zekey’s hand holding onto his other.

Shane sat down beside him on the beach towel, placed Zekey on top of his lap before opening up the bag of chips and the can of coke. “So, how’ve you been? It’s been a couple days since I’ve seen you.”

“I’ve been good. Didn’t really do much. Just work, basically. How about you?”

“Yeah, I’m doing so much better. Mam’s been trying to call me a couple times but…” Shane shrugged, the corners of his lips slightly downturned for a second, “I don’t know. I don’t really feel like picking up if I’m being honest.”

“That’s fair. I probably wouldn’t pick up too if I was in your situation. I understand.”

Shane smiled, fed Zekey a chip. “Listen, thanks again for doing that. That was really nice of you.”

“Nah, it’s fine. It was–“ Through the corner of his eyes, he saw a white blob moving around. Zekey was throwing a couple of chips out onto the sand in front of them. His chest tightened at that instant when he looked over at a seagull charging at it.

“Are you alright?” Shane watched with concern.

“Yeah, I just– oh fuck.” He flinched again when it took a step closer and opened its beak. Goosebumps shot right through his arms “Sorry. I have a fear of birds.”

“Aw. It’s okay. I got you.” Shane tittered and waved his arm around to shoo away the seagull until it flew away. “All good?”

“Yeah.” He let out an awkward laugh. “Sorry. Thanks.”

“It’s okay.” Shane wrapped his hands around the child’s to stop him from chucking the chips, from calling the birds. “Zekey, no”

“He’s adorable.” Mark poked Zekey’s puffy cheek and watched him look up, trying to examine who this strange man poking him was. “Hello.” He said, bopping his nose. That got a laugh out of the kid. It was heavenly.

“Oh, he’s precious.” Shane looked down at the baby, the sweetest grin on his lips as he kissed the top of Zekey’s head. That was one of the most heart-warming things Mark had seen. “You like babies?”

“Love them. I wish I had more nieces and nephews to play with.”

“Oh, I have millions. I have six siblings so kids are around me all the time. I could always take you around to play with them. They’d love it if they weren’t just seeing the same uncle all the time, you know.” Shane chuckled, feeding Zekey another chip and eating one himself.

“That sounds like fun. You’re really lucky. I only have two brothers and–“ The moment Mark let his eyes get distracted, a quiver shot through Mark’s rigid body. Fucking seagull digging up the chips that the baby threw again.

“Oh my god, Zekey. I said no.” Shane flung his arms around, shuffled close to Mark and placed his hand on Mark’s lower back to comfort him when the bird didn’t seem too bothered. “Jesus, that thing doesn’t get scared, does it?”

“Yeah, it’s…” Mark found himself curling against Shane with every move of the bird; curling into that supportive hand on his back, curling into the tempting, welcoming body of Shane’s.

“You’re alright.” Shane smiled, felt his heart palpitating at Mark who was leaning on him and snaked his arm around to hold him by the waist. He used his other hand to scare away the bird, which worked this time. “Finally. There we go.” He turned his head to face Mark. Mark turned too.

Their faces were closer than they thought from all the shuffling and leaning, only a few inches away. Mark saw Shane’s glimmering eyes travel down to his mouth, then saw him lick his lips before biting down on them. These couple of seconds felt like a lifetime, until Shane’s eyes twinkled up and they locked eyes.

Mark swallowed hard. His heart was about to pop out of him any minute, especially when he could feel Shane’s slow and gentle hand trail up his back, softly grasping around his nape.

Shane swallowed hard. He felt himself getting lost in Mark’s oceanic blue orbs, felt himself being hypnotised by them as he leaned in, his lips moulding to another pair of soft lips. They opened up a bit before closing down on each other again, and again, and again. Slight stubbles of both men tickled each other’s chins as subtle wet sounds could be heard. They’re tongues occasionally made an entrance, only just to experience each other’s sweet tastes, a sweet pop of soda until the natural split. The feeling lingered on both flesh, and Shane ended the exchange with a quick, chaste kiss, almost a peck.

Breaths were a bit heavy, Shane’s hand still on the back of Mark’s neck before he retracted it with a contented smile. Mark had the same look on his face.

“So,” Shane lilted, letting out an awkward and shy giggle.

“So.” Mark echoed with the same giggle.

“Yeah, um. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but uh,” Shane nervously scratched his head, “do you think it’ll be okay if I asked you out properly sometime? Like, just you and me? We can go and have dinner or something.” Shane looked up, saw Mark freeze for a minute before his cheeks turned to a rosy pink as his lips curved up. It was adorable.

“Yeah. I would love that.” Mark beamed at the sparkling look in Shane’s deep hazel eyes.

So, maybe his life wasn’t going to be so boring anymore.


End file.
